A State of Emergency

We have had a major winter storm blow through our area this week. Lots of snow and ice have dumped on the metro area literally shutting down the city.Yesterday, the Mayor of Gresham…yes… Gresham… declared a State of Emergency due to the weather.Now I admit, I have never seen a December in Oregon quit like this one, but a State of Emergency?Here’s the bottom line. BE PREPARED!Sunday, our Troop was scheduled to set up the Nativity scene in the back of the church, as we do every year.Saturday and into early Sunday morning, the phone began to ring. “Are we still setting up the manger?”Yes we are.And low and behold there were Scouts and Scouters in the back of the church at 11:30 on Sunday making ready to set up the Nativity scene.We shoveled our way out, put on chains if needed, bundled up, and made our way to the church. We even assisted Father in getting his chains on and getting his car out of a jam.We were prepared for the conditions, understood that life had to go on, and made it happen.Yesterday, the city was in panic. Emergency services slowed, business’s shut their doors, and last minute shoppers frantically rattled the doors of shops with “CLOSED DUE TO THE WINTER STORM” signs on them.

Shelters are packed, soup kitchens are at capacity, I am glad we gathered all that food during Scouting for Food just a few short weeks ago.It seems to me that we all need to just BE PREPARED a bit more. I keep getting asked about “What if your power goes out?”… “What about the heat?”….”Can you get around in this mess?”.

Yes. We are prepared. It is not an emergency. It is snow. If we all were better prepared then we can adapt and move on. The city clearly did not see the same forecast as the rest of us, they got caught with their pants down and now are reacting rather than working the plan of preparedness.

The boy’s went to the garage last night and pulled down the Emergency preparedness boxes they made when they worked the Merit Badge. They wanted to make sure everything was still there. Canned foods, a backpacking stove, flashlights with good batteries, etc.They are prepared.

A state of emergency was declared yesterday because it snowed… or … no one was prepared.

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2 thoughts on “A State of Emergency”

I wonder if people being prepared is a generational thing?I know my Grandparents always had food in the house, candles and matches on standby, that kind of thing, ‘just in case’.But then they grew up in the early part of the twentieth century and lived through the Second World War. They HAD to be prepared for anything and of course were a lot more self sufficient. Life was harder and less was handed to them on a plate, but people coped!I guess our motto is one we need to live up to and show the way for the non Scouts out there.Happy Christmas

Your story reminds this former farm boy that no matter the weather, your health, the alignment of the stars,planets and moons, more important than anything else in the world, the one thing above all excuses. My dad and grandfather would always tell me. “THE COWS STILL NEED MILKED.” Animals need to be fed, and work goes on. Closed due to winter storm, that’s a “here’s your sign” moment.

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